Written questions by Brown-Fuller.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of i) service charges, ii) daily standard charges for electricity, and iii) ground rent on retirement home sales in Chichester constituency.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, will he review the requirements for house sellers to declare any neighbour dispute when selling their properties, so that owners are not dissuaded from tackling short term issues for fear of not being able to sell their homes.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to tackle the mismanagement of parish councils.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.

Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to make parish councils more accountable to their constituents.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing parish councils' staff with additional support.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of empty properties in Chichester constituency.

Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk. Data on vacant homes is not broken down by constituency. Housing policy is a devolved matter, so information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is held by the respective devolved administrations.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of empty properties there are in the UK.

Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk. Data on vacant homes is not broken down by constituency. Housing policy is a devolved matter, so information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is held by the respective devolved administrations.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of properties that have had planning permission for over six months yet no building work has yet commenced.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 122315 on 1 April 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what consultation his Department has had with local planning authorities on section 78c of the National Planning Policy Framework.

My Department consulted on changes to policy in respect of 5-year housing land supply as part of the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework that took place between 30 July and 24 September 2024. Paragraph 78c was introduced in the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework update.A government response, which can be found on gov.uk here, was published alongside the updated Framework. It made clear that there are many authorities whose local housing need figures will be substantially larger than their adopted or emerging local plan housing requirement figures, indicating a significant unmet demand for new homes in these areas. To help close the gap, we are introducing a new requirement that authorities with plans adopted under the old standard method must provide an extra year’s worth of homes in their 5-year housing pipeline.As such, those authorities whose adopted plan annual housing requirement figure is 80% or less of their annual local housing need figure will be required to add a 20% buffer to their 5-year housing land supply from 1 July 2026. This window will give these authorities time to make provision for the new policy. As with other housing supply buffers, this will not be cumulative, so those authorities who are already required to add a 20% buffer due to scoring below 85% in the most recent housing delivery test will not be required to add an additional buffer should they meet these criteria.

Communities and Local Government, whether planning permission should only be granted in a tilted balance scenario where there is evidence that delivery of the proposal would fall within the 5 year housing land supply period.

It is for the relevant decision maker to determine the weight to give to relevant policies in light of the specific facts and circumstances of any given planning application, including in the application of the tilted balance.Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals for a revised presumption in favour of sustainable development, underpinning the way the new policies direct different forms of development to the most appropriate locations – in effect applying a permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development.We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposing different start dates for the preparation of new local plans on local planning authorities, in the context of local government reorganisation in West Sussex.

The transitional provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, set out the dates by which local planning authorities are required to start plan-making. It is the responsibility of individual local planning authorities to ensure they meet these requirements.Local government reorganisation should not delay plan making. Local planning authorities who will form part of a new unitary authority should work together either on a joint plan or to align plan-making as far as practicable.

Communities and Local Government, if he will consider postponing the start dates for local plan-making for areas undergoing Local Government Reorganisation.

The transitional provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, set out the dates by which local planning authorities are required to start plan-making. It is the responsibility of individual local planning authorities to ensure they meet these requirements.Local government reorganisation should not delay plan making. Local planning authorities who will form part of a new unitary authority should work together either on a joint plan or to align plan-making as far as practicable.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of joint plan-making where his Department has mandated different start dates for the preparation of new local plans.

The transitional provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, set out the dates by which local planning authorities are required to start plan-making. It is the responsibility of individual local planning authorities to ensure they meet these requirements.Local government reorganisation should not delay plan making. Local planning authorities who will form part of a new unitary authority should work together either on a joint plan or to align plan-making as far as practicable.

Communities and Local Government, which local planning authorities have been provided with a 31 December 2026 start date for the preparation of new local plans.

The transitional provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, set out the dates by which local planning authorities are required to start plan-making. It is the responsibility of individual local planning authorities to ensure they meet these requirements.Local government reorganisation should not delay plan making. Local planning authorities who will form part of a new unitary authority should work together either on a joint plan or to align plan-making as far as practicable.

Communities and Local Government, if he will consider creating a mandatory buyback scheme for owners of shared ownership homes.

Landlords have the option to buy back homes where shared owners are unable to sell due to building safety issues, and they can use their own resource or Recycled Capital Grant Funding to do so. Shared ownership providers are independent bodies, and decisions about the management, sale or repurchase of individual homes sit with them. While buyback provisions already apply in some limited circumstances, such as in Designated Protected Areas or where providers offer discretionary support in exceptional cases, the government has no current plans to introduce a mandatory buyback scheme for all shared ownership homes.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to policy HC6 in the National Planning Policy Framework on the number of public houses at risk of conversion or demolition.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 105500 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to limit speculative planning applications for sites that have been deemed unsuitable for development by the Planning Inspectorate.

Local planning authorities have the power to decline to determine applications if planning permission has been refused for two or more substantially similar applications on the same site within the past two years. This includes any appeals dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to policy HC6 in the National Planning Policy Framework on planning protections for public houses in areas where more than one pub exists.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 105500 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to cap service charges on managed estates.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish proposals for a code of practice for the operating of private car parks.

I wish to assure the hon. Member that this government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector.The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.A consultation document outlining proposals to raise standard across the private parking industry was published on 11 July 2025.The consultation has closed and all responses are being analysed.We expect to the lay the Code in accordance with the negative procedure in due course.